#All for the sake of my favourite character who I will fight the world for

[villain-in-love]

Allow me to bring your attention to Alice Baskerville, one of my favourite Pandora Hearts characters and my adopted little sister!

Just as much as I loved Alice from the beginning of the story, I absolutely hated the treatment she got later in the manga. With all due respect, I will never forgive Jun Mochizuki for deciding to turn Alice from a cunning and cocky badass into a comic relief character, who acted like a little kid and only had food on her mind.

So here are a few things I came up with as headcanons, some of them explaining her behaviour and personality, because Alice deserves it.

Warning! Some major spoilers for the manga.

♠ I headcanon that she’s always hungry and craves meat because she’s supposed to eat humans. Unlike other chains she can go without it and control herself just fine (probably because she’s the Black Rabbit), but it’s still the most suited food for her.

♠ She knows about Abyss much more than any other character (the only one who can compare is her sister) because she spent so much time in there, but she also intuitively understands and connects with it because of how closely she’s tied to it, being born in there, and having The Will of Abyss herself as her twin sister.

♠ She misses Alyss, even if she doesn’t realise it.

♠ She may have lost her memories, but not the effect they had on her. Mentally she’s still not okay due to isolated childhood, living through the tragedy of Sablier and literally sacrificing herself to prevent the world destruction, and later spending hundred years alone in Abyss.

♠ Those are also the reasons she acts so feral at times – she’s not very familiar with society norms. Though even if she was, I doubt that she would use that knowledge often, being certain that it’s her Abyss given right to do whatever the hell she wants.

♠ She’s arrogant, a little self-centred, and tactless. Did I mention poor self-control? I mean, she can hold herself together when and where it would give her benefits, but other than that, she couldn’t care less what others might think about her.

♠ Having lost connection with her twin sister (with whom they literally shared a body at one point), she often feels lonely and doesn’t even know why. Given that her entire current existence is a complicated matter, she struggles with a feeling of unease and wrongness that always creeps somewhere in the back of her mind. She tries her best to find things to keep herself busy, so that she doesn’t have to face it.

♠ Yeah, she’s bad at self-reflection. She doesn’t even want to deal with it.

♠ I assume that she had contracts before Oz and that’s why she acted so confident and knew what to do when they met. But those deals rarely turned out how she wanted them to be – she couldn’t get a chance to roam the human world freely.

♠  She spends most of the time in the human world exploring and pocking her nose everywhere she can.

♠ I headcanon that by the end of the manga she develops rather peculiar and seemingly random set of skills and knowledge.

♠ She has more energy than she knows what to do with.

♠ As we have seen, Alice doesn’t know what love and romance really means, but she vaguely knows what “seduction” is. Aka how to make an impression, appeal to humans, and make them do what you need them to do. She can be very flirty, even if she doesn’t think so and doesn’t have any intentions associated with this behaviour.

♠ When she lived in a tower as a human, she read a lot of books, usually the ones about adventures and heroes. A great part of her vocabulary was borrowed from those old books, which is why she can be so poetically dramatic, but even if it kinda fits when she’s fighting, sometimes she starts acting like that in times when it’s out of place.

♠ She’s still 14 mentally, you can’t blame her for wanting to appear cool.

♠ She eventually did pick up “Holy Knight” to read, purely because not understanding what Oz and Elliot constantly argue about is annoying. And then she joined the debate, throwing around controversial opinions that often left Elliot and Oz pausing in shock, trying to process what they just heard. What’s funny is that sometimes Alice’s commentaries actually made a lot of sense. Too much sense.

♠ While she was stuck in Abyss for 100 years, Alice often got into fights with other chains to entertain herself. She soon realized that she’s much stronger than most of them, and while it did give her some kind of ego bust and satisfaction, she was also disappointed by everything being too easy and thus not giving her enough adrenaline.

♠ Somewhere in the second part of the story she goes through the identity crisis because of gradually getting stripped of the Black Rabbit powers, which started returning to Oz – the original Black Rabbit. With that, Oz slowly became the one to handle most of important fights and dangerous situations, leaving Alice with nothing to do and even slightly upset, because being a powerful chain was a point of pride for her for so long.

♠ With Oz having his own identity crisis in canon, I think it would be nice to have Alice go through the similar thing to parallel it, especially since their identities and their misplacement are closely tied together. It would also allow for better character study and development that canon Alice didn’t get enough.

♠ Алиса – воплощение выражения “всё гениальное – просто”. Пока все остальные ломают головы и сверханализируют, Алиса посмотрит, сплюнет, назовёт всех дебилами и выдаст решение проблемы в двух шагах.*

♠ Just keep in mind that her solutions can often include violence and brute force, so if you’re a pacifist, be ready having to ask someone else.

*I’m can’t currently figure out how to translate it in it's full meaning (the translations i get from from different sites are not good enough), but I want it to be here.

[orphiclovers]

ahem ahem. What if sp x 1863 hsy!? Can you see the toxic vision!?

I want to so BAD you have no IDEA. SP and 1863!HSY are my favourite characters, yoohan is my favourite ship, this should be perfectly tailored to me, right? And YET, I've never gotten farther than "someone should make this a thing...."

But I'll try for you.

They do have some canon interactions going for them. Namely, we know that SP made a covenant with her to do some unspecified thing in the 1863rd regression.

It's not certain how many of the messages he sent to KDJ's channel were actually him personally, and how many one of his kkomas, and while I think a couple of them in the important moments was actually him, I headcanon he spent most of his time watching the alt-1863rd round. For Han Sooyoung I imagine he was a cold and distant figure who sent few indirect messages but whose attention was always hanging over her head. She had to rely on his satisfaction with the way she ran the world for him to hold up his part of the deal and give her a new worldline.

And we know he wasn't satisfied, because when he sent KDJ there, he said "I hope you're not as disappointing as the last one." So clearly there was some kind of disagreement between them.

Despite all this fun context, I don't think they have many strong feelings about each other other than mutual dislike. Neither of them spend time thinking of the other except for when they have to interact for the sake of the covenant. They're relationship is purely business, and they don't leave a huge impression on the other's psyche or change the trajectory of their lives forever. (Unlike, for example, 1863 Yoo Joonghyuk does for the both of them.)

Only thing they have going for them is their love triangle with 1863 YJH. It's the kind that doesn't end in a thruple for once, but where they both stay feeling entirely neutral about the other corner.

The Big Issue for them is that SP gives HSY a task he doesn't actually wish to be achieved, but HSY has no choice but to do her best to attempt anyway. And when she does come up with a perfect plan to achieve the death of Yoo Joonghyuk, the thing SP supposedly wants, he gets cold feet and sends KDJ in last minute, saying he's 'dissapointed' in her. Why? The plan would have worked. But he didn't want Yoo Joonghyuk to die at that point.

What he actually wanted her to do was fight radically change the world like Kim Dokja did. (This comes up in the SP/999 fight or sometime around then.) She never could have lived up to that expectation.

And in the aftermath of Kim Dokja's visit to the 1863rd round, all their plans were ruined anyway. Maybe she neutrally told him she 'wouldn't be leaving this round' and that their deal was off. SP said nothing, since obviously everything had fallen apart at that point. I think Secretive Plotter, much like Kim Dokja, doesn't care for a world without Yoo Joonghyuk in it. That was probably the last time they spoke to each other. The 1863rd round became completely irrelevant to him, including the Han Sooyoung left there to pick up the pieces. And she was obsessively fixated on Kim Dokja and didn't have time to think about SP. That was all over and done with.

But I'm very willing to hear anyone out if they have a HSY/SP vision. I want to be persuaded on this!

[aspoonofsugar]

Charlie's Angels

Don't you love Hazbin Hotel's angels? I do! Especially two of them:

So, here is a meta about my two favourite angels and two of my favourite characters in general!

FALLEN ANGELS

Vaggie and Lucifer are considered weird by other angels:

Lute: Sinful filth like you has NO place in heaven.

Charlie: Lucifer was one of these angels. He was a dreamer with fantastical ideas for all of creation. But he was seen as a troublemaker by the elders of Heaven. For they felt his way of thinking was dangerous to the order of their world.

Vaggie is "weak" because she shows pity, whereas Lucifer is "dangerous " because he thinks in original ways. These differences eventually lead them to be discarded by Heaven:

They become fallen angels and end up in Hell, where they find love and family:

Still, their heavenly upbringing sticks with them. In particular, both Vaggie and Lucifer are traumatized by their respective authority figures.

Vaggie has been indoctrinated by Adam to the point she feels she has no value if she fails:

Vaggie: If I can't help you, what's the point of me?

Lucifer was crushed by the Elders of Heaven and still fears them:

Lucifer: I just don't want you to be crushed by them like- Like I was.

As a result, they:

hide parts of themselves from Charlie: Vaggie conceals her past out of fear. Lucifer instead masks his vulnerability out of shame.

project their unsolved issues on Charlie: Vaggie thinks Charlie's love for her is conditional and lies to her. Lucifer wants to protect Charlie from Heaven to the point he infantilizes her.

So, their impact on the story is double:

Charlie must become able to see Vaggie and Lucifer's hidden parts, if she wants to grow

Vaggie and Lucifer need to change and solve their issues for Charlie's sake

Both these developments tie with the Jungian symbolism of light and shadow.

LIGHT AND SHADOW

Light and shadow are two Jungian Archetypes aka two complementary parts of the human mind:

Light is associated to the persona or mask. It is what a person shows while interacting with the world.

The shadow is what is hidden in the darkness. It is what a person represses and refuses to reveal to the world.

When it comes to Vaggie and Lucifer's role in season 1:

Charlie must accept both Vaggie and Lucifer's shadows and lights. Only in this way she can learn nuance.

Vaggie and Lucifer must face their darkest parts, their shadows and integrate with them. Only in this way they can mature.

Let's explore these parallels journeys.

CHARLIE: BLACK AND WHITE

Vaggie and Lucifer are similar people, but Charlie sees of them opposite things:

She sees Vaggie trying to save the sinners in the present, but ignores she was once an exorcist who murdered thousands of hell people

She sees Lucifer permitting the exterminations in the present, but she ignores that in the past he tried to help sinners like Charlie is doing now

In other words, Charlie sees Vaggie and Lucifer in black and white. In particular, she sees only the white in Vaggie and the black in Lucifer.

White Vaggie

Vaggie and Charlie have been together for three years, but Charlie still knows nothing about her girlfriend's past. Not only that, but it is obvious something is off about Vaggie. She is deeply insecure, overperforming and she basically says she learnt how to trust while fighting in the trenches:

Vaggie: I just need to teach them, the way I was taught… The scene changes to the group standing on a rooftop with half-destroyed buildings all around them. Everyone was shocked that the exercise has taken them to a live turf war battlefield with guns blazing in the background, demons screaming, and explosions booming. Charlie: THIS IS HOW YOU LEARNED TO TRUST PEOPLE?!

And yet, Charlie ignores all these red flags and never tries to go deeper in her understanding of Vaggie. She idealizes her.

Black Lucifer

Lucifer and Lilith have both been absent and have neglected Charlie. However, she only calls out Lucifer, while she justifies Lilith:

Charlie: After he and mom split, he never really wanted to see me. He calls… sometimes, but only if he's bored or like, needs me to do something.

Vaggie: Oof… how long has it been now? Charlie: Not that long, only…seven….years, off doing something important, I'm sure!

Similarly, she acts as if she is upholding only Lilith's legacy:

Charlie: But Lilith's hope remained. And her dream was passed down to their precious daughter, the Princess of Hell.

But the story makes clear the Hazbin Hotel is really an evolution of Lucifer's original dream, as well:

Charlie: So in the end, it's the view I had of you That showed me dreams can be worth fighting for

In short, Lucifer and Lilith have very similar flaws and qualities, but Charlie tends to compartimentalize them, so that Lucifer is cast in a less favourable light, while Lilith is put on a pedestal.

Microchosm and macrochosm

Charlie isn't wrong in her assessment of Vaggie and Lucifer. She is right about Vaggie's good qualities and she has all reasons to call Lucifer out. The point is that there is more to both and Charlie must become able to see it. Just like she must learn to see the shades of gray present in both Heaven and Hell:

Vaggie: Those angels' minds are hard to change.

Lucifer: Charlie! You don't understand. Heaven never listens. They didn't listen to me. They won't listen to you!

Symbolically, Vaggie and Lucifer both try to warn the Princess about Heaven's complexity, but Charlie is initially stuck in a simplistic white and black mentality. Thanks to the two fallen angels and to her trip to Heaven, though, she starts grappling with complexity on both a personal level (microchosm) and on a wider political scale (macrochosm).

Personal level

Lucifer hides his weakness and shortcomings behind a powerful and cold mask:

Lucifer: Alright, I mean, look… I love that you want to see the best in people, but these sinners… You know, they're just the worst. I, I don't know how much you can realistically expect from them in Heaven.

Still, once he opens up and brings to light his real self, Charlie sees how similar she is to him and is able to reforge their relationship:

Both: All that I'm hopin', now that my eyes are open Is that we can start again- not be pulled apart again 'Cause in the end, you are part of who I am

As a result, Charlie feels empowered and has a renewed enthusiasm and optimism towards her dream:

Lucifer: I'll support your dream, whatever lies in store Charlie: And who could ask for more?

Lucifer's hidden shadow turns out to be a bright and warm light.

Vaggie shows Charlie unconditional support and has complete faith in her and her dream:

Charlie: I just hope what I'm trying to do here will work. Vaggie: It will. I have faith in you.

However, she doesn't tell Charlie that she used to be among the very people who brought carnage into Hell:

So, once Charlie discovers it, she is hurt, enraged and temporally loses her inner balance, giving in to negativity and hopelessness:

Vaggie's shadow is darker than Charlie imagined.

Political level

Charlie sees Heaven as the perfect realm and is initially enchanted by it:

Charlie: Okay, I love Heaven! Vaggie, did you see the ice cream shop? They had sprinkles made of rainbows!

However, throughout her journey there, she realizes Heaven too has cracks, contradictions and shadows:

Charlie: Wait… none of you know what gets someone into Heaven?

Which leads her to sing this:

Charlie and Emily: The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again

In answer to this:

Adam: 'Cause the rules are black and white There's no use in tryin' to fight it They're burnin' for their lives Until we kill 'em again!

The world isn't black and white, but shades of gray. The moment Charlie understands it, she can finally make sense of Vaggie and Lucifer's warning:

Charlie: I was told not to trust in angels

CHARLIE'S CONCLUSION: BRIDGES

Vaggie and Lucifer kickstart Charlie's arc. It is through them that the princess starts facing nuance in three ways:

Personal relationships: Charlie thinks she knows Vaggie and Lucifer the best, but both are able ot surprise her and to show her hidden sides of themselves, both bad and good.

Politics: Vaggie and Lucifer symbolically lead the Princess of Hell into Heaven and help her make sense of this contradictive realm. Specifically, Lucifer organizes Charlie's meeting with Sera and Vaggie goes to the questioning with Charlie.

Identity: thanks to her conflicts with Lucifer and Vaggie, Charlie faces her own lights and shadows. She discovers an inner strength when she inspires Lucifer to trust her. Meanwhile she touches her inner darkness when Vaggie hurts her. Both this power and this vulnerability are parts of who Charlie is and it is only by integrating them that she can bloom into the Princess of Hell.

In other words, Vaggie and Lucifer are Charlie's bridges towards:

Heaven and her role as Princess of Hell (macrochosm)

Who she is deep down as a person (microchosm)

They are Charlie's bridges towards light and shadow.

VAGGIE AND LUCIFER: GUARDIAN ANGELS

Vaggie and Lucifer are meant to be Charlie's personal guardian angels, as both want to protect her. Still, they can't succeed if they do not grow. So, they go through parallel arcs that can be seen as journeys of integration with the shadow:

They are forced to take off their masks (persona)

They are overwhelmed by their most hidden and shameful parts (shadow)

They conquer their shortcomings and grow (integration with the shadow)

Let's explore these three steps.

Blinding light: Sera

Sera embodies the persona, as she tries to mask everything wrong or disturbing behind a facade of perfection:

In Emily's imagination, Sera is a generous angel, who shares her light with others.

She blinds everyone with her virtue, wisdom and goodness, all while hiding exterminations and her involvement in them:

Lute: SHHH. Sir, what was the Seraphim's one rule? Adam: Uuughhh, "No one but the exorcists can know about the exterminations".

At the same time, she is an important foil to both Vaggie and Lucifer.

Sera and Vaggie try to hide their crimes from respectively Emily and Charlie. They love the two princesses and are worried for their well-being. At the same time, they are scared the two girls might resent them if they discovered they took part in the exterminations. Despite their efforts, though, Adam eventually reveals both of their secrets:

Adam: Gotta say, I can't wait to Sera: Adam… Adam: Come down and exterminate you!

Vaggie: Don't, Adam, please! Adam: What's the fuss? Why hide the fact that you're an angel Just like us

Emily and Charlie are horrified by the truth. Still, Sera and Vaggie's reactions are opposites.

On the one hand Sera immediately forces Emily to repress everything she is feeling. In this way, the status quo is quickly re-established and superficially their relationship goes back to how it was. By the end, Sera and Emily are shown working together, as per usual:

However, it is obvious they aren't facing their problems, which will only grow deeper.

On the other hand Vaggie gives Charlie time to process her feelings and express her anger. She doesn't try to force the Princess of Hell to get over it and waits until Charlie is ready to forgive her. All while working hard to fulfill Charlie's dream. By the end Charlie and Vaggie are back together, but their relationship is now deeper and stronger:

They start facing their issues and their bond develops because of it.

Sera and Lucifer are respectively Emily and Charlie's authority figures. They both care deeply about the young girls and want to protect them from Heaven. Still, the two older angels are also condescending towards them. Not only that, but they hide important parts of their personality from the two kids. In other words, they both wear masks. Still, Sera's mask is effective and she and Emily are very close. Lucifer's mask is ineffective, as he unwillingly pushes Charlie away. In the end, both masks come off and what emerges is opposite:

Emily discovers a negative side of Sera, meanwhile Charlie sees a positive side of Lucifer. Moreover, Sera and Lucifer eventually deal with the girls in different ways. Sera decides that Emily must conform to avoid any possible danger. Lucifer instead decides to support Charlie's dream, even if it might lead her to suffer. Sera chooses to protect Emily by enforcing repression. Lucifer chooses to enable Charlie's self-expression. Sera keeps treating Emily as a childish extension of herself. Lucifer starts accepting Charlie as her own adult person.

Sera: I couldn't bear to see you suffer that fate, so please, let me worry about this, ok?

Lucifer: Okay, I can get you the meeting, but once you're in Heaven, I won't be able to go with you. Will you be ok? Charlie: I'll be fine. Lucifer: That's my girl. Good luck kiddo.

Sera, Vaggie and Lucifer all hide parts of themselves from their loved ones and have their real selves exposed. However, Sera refuses to admit her crimes and does not accept neither Emily's anger nor her wishes. Vaggie and Lucifer instead admit their mistakes and accept both Charlie's negativity (Vaggie) and her dreams (Lucifer). Sera fails to take off the mask and is stuck in blinding light. Vaggie and Lucifer instead put the mask away and step into the shadow.

The darkest shadow: Alastor

Alastor embodies the shadow, as he preys on people's fears and insecurities:

Alastor materializes and controls beings made of shadows.

He does the same with the Princess of Hell, as well. He waits until Charlie hits rock bottom and manipulates her into making a deal:

Charlie: How? I'll do anything. Alastor: Anything? Then… let's make a deal.

What's interesting is that Alastor succeeds because both Vaggie and Lucifer fail Charlie.

First of all, Vaggie and Lucifer are framed as the two main obstacles to Alastor's plan, either directly (Vaggie) or indirectly (Lucifer):

Vaggie: Charlie, whatever you do, do not make a deal with him! Charlie: Don't worry, I picked up one thing from my dad! "You don't take shit from other demons!"

For example, in the pilot Vaggie strongly advises Charlie against trusting Alastor and Charlie answers that Lucifer taught her how to handle these kinds of situations. So, Vaggie's presence and Lucifer's teachings are Charlie's main defense against the Radio Demon. Still, Alastor quickly seizes upon Vaggie and Lucifer's weaknesses:

Alastor: Not for your soul, just a simple deal. I do this for you, and you never ask me to engage with this frivolous television technology ever again. Or…Charlie can come back to absolutely nothing. Your choice.

Alastor: Sadly, there are times a birth parent is a dud They say the family you choose is better

He makes use of Vaggie's insecurities over her usefulness to Charlie and taunts Lucifer's absence from his daughter's life. He doesn't really need to do anything else because the two angels' flaws do the rest.

Vaggie's lie hurts Charlie so much, that the princess pushes her girlfriend away in a moment where she needs all the support avaiable:

Vaggie: She's upstairs. Coming up with something, I'm sure, in our room. Alone.

And in this very moment Lucifer is nowhere to be seen, despite the fact he knows of his daughter's trip to Heaven. He either ignores how the meeting went and doesn't bother to ask. Or he knows it went badly and isn't there to offer a helping hand. Either way, he is absent.

In this context, it is telling the only ones there for Charlie are Razzle and Dazzle:

The two demons are Lucifer's gift to Charlie and have the mission to protect the princess. So, they are an extension of Lucifer himself and a perfect example of his parenting style:

Lucifer: Who needs a busboy now that you've got the chef? (Woh-oh-oh!) Michelin tasting menu, free à la carte I'll rig the game for you because I'm the ref! Champagne fountains Caviar mountains That's just to start!

"I don't need to be there and struggle psychologically if I give my daughter fancy toys, like two dragon body-guards!". Except, Razzle and Dazzle aren't Lucifer and it shows:

Symbolically, Charlie pushes Razzle and Dazzle away before taking Alastor's hand. Immediately after this, Vaggie breaks into the room:

Vaggie: No. No! Alastor: Right on cue! Vaggie: What did you do? Let her go!

The framing is rather clear. Vaggie's lie and Lucifer's absence leave Charlie vulnerable to Alastor. In a sense, the Radio Demon skillfully steps in to temporally play both Vaggie and Lucifer's roles:

He is there to help Charlie save the Hotel, as the Hotel Manager Vaggie usually does

He is there to mentor Charlie, as her actual father Lucifer fails to do

So, Vaggie and Lucifer screw up and their loved one takes a dangerous bet as a result. This ties with the shadow symbolism, as both angels fail to face their darkest parts in time. Vaggie has plenty of chances to tell Charlie the truth, but doesn't. Lucifer has just promised to support Charlie's dream, but once again he isn't there for her. Vaggie and Lucifer truly love Charlie and want to change for her, but they both struggle to do so. Luckily, they are soon given a second chance.

Conquering the shadow: Lute and Adam

Lute and Adam are Charlie's two major enemies in season 1 and they are negative foils of respectively Vaggie and Lucifer:

Just like Vaggie, Lute is an exorcist, who puts all her self-worth into her ability to kill:

Adam: Lute, how many demons did you kill this year? Lute: Got a good 275 this year, sir. Adam: 275? Woah! Badass! Awesome job, danger tits! Pound it.

She deals with problems by using violence and is fiercely loyal to Adam, like Vaggie is to Charlie.

Just like Lucifer, Adam struggles with Lilith leaving and wears a mask of arrogance to hide his vulnerability and low self-esteem. Not only that, but both Lucifer and Adam are authority figures who fail the people below them:

Lucifer: Our "people", Charlie, are awful! They got gifted free will and look what they did with it! Everything's terrible!

Adam: I started everything on Earth! All of mankind came from these fucking nuts! You all should be worshipping me, you ungrateful, disgusting, fucking losers-!

So, Lute and Adam embody Vaggie and Lucifer's repressed dark side. They are who the two fallen angel might become, but choose not to be. They are Vaggie and Lucifer's shadows. This is why, the Hotel Manager and the King od Hell are asked to fight the two exorcists in the finale, in order to protect Charlie.

On the one hand Vaggie fights Lute by refusing her mentality:

She juxtaposes a defensive fighting style to the exorcist's overly aggressive one. Moreover, Vaggie refuses Lute's rethoric about violence and revenge and shows her opponent mercy.

On the other hand Lucifer fights Adam to save his people, while Adam threathens his own descendants. Lucifer fights to protect, whereas Adam attacks to kill. As a result, Lucifer protects his daughter and is helped by her:

Adam instead is killed by a symbolic child (Niffty) and leaves his metaphorical daughter (Lute) behind:

In the end, both Vaggie and Lucifer win, but they do not kill Lute and Adam:

Vaggie: Seriously, you're pathetic, you know that? Ready to die rather than accepting mercy? No, live. Live knowing that you only do because I let you, the failure.

Vaggie spares Lute and rushes to Charlie's side to help her.

Charlie: Whoa, whoa, Dad. He's had enough. Lucifer: Alright. How's mercy taste, you little bitch?

Lucifer listens to Charlie's plead and shows mercy to Adam.

This happens because both Lute and Adam represent repressed parts of Vaggie and Lucifer. They are symbolically those sides our fallen angels refuse to face. They are their flaws, their past, their fears, their worse selves. So, Vaggie and Lucifer can't really kill them because it would mean to kill themselves. In fact, you can't kill your shadow, but you have to face it, without letting it take over. That is what both Vaggie and Lucifer do for Charlie's sake.

VAGGIE AND LUCIFER'S CONCLUSION: MORE THAN ANYTHING

Lucifer: More than anything (Charlie: More than anything) More than anything (Charlie: More than anything) Both: I'm grateful you're (Lucifer: my daughter/Charlie: my father) more than anything More than anything

Charlie and Vaggie: There's something that I've been dying to say More than anything, more than anything Need you to know I love you more than anything More than anything

Vaggie and Lucifer share different versions of the song More Than Anything with Charlie. Why is that so?

The song celebrates different kinds of love, like Lucifer and Charlie's familial bond and Vaggie and Charlie's romantic relationship.

The song highlights Vaggie and Lucifer's importance to Charlie

This importance is shown in the finale, where Vaggie and Lucifer not only defeat Charlie's enemies, but are also by the Princess's side:

Vaggie sings to Charlie before the battle, when the princess fears her loved ones might die

Lucifer sings to Charlie after the battle, when the princess is grieving her losses

Both support Charlie, when she is at her most vulnerable and they reassure her she did good:

Vaggie: You've already done so much So many lives you've changed So many souls you've touched And in the end, if it's only me you've saved

Lucifer: You can do this, now I know it! For your story has just begun You can't quit now. Hell, you owe it! There's still damage to be undone You've changed my mind, you've touched their hearts Found the good in souls gone bad

Both tell Charlie she has touched their souls and saved them.

So, Vaggie and Lucifer fail Charlie the moment she goes to face Heaven, but they are there for her when she fights to protect Hell. They screw up, learn and do better. As a result, they stand by Charlie's side, as the season comes to a close:

Vaggie is there because she has accepted Charlie's anger and her forgiveness. By doing so, she has accepted her violent past and has realized she can forgive herself.

Lucifer is there because he has accepted Charlie's ambitions and dreams. In this way, he was reminded of his past idealistic self and has found a new faith and new hopes.

THE FUTURE - ANGELIC SIBLINGS

In season 1, Vaggie, Lucifer and Charlie all struggle with their shadows, but their integration with their most repressed parts is far from over. What new challenges await them?

Among (many) others, I think all three characters are set-up to have "angelic siblings", who may step in as shadow archetypes. So, these angelic counterparts might embody parts of themselves the demons do not want to aknowledge.

Vaggie and Lute

Lute already plays the role of Vaggie's shadow in season 1. Vaggie's flashback makes the symbolism pretty clear:

Vaggie sees her shadow as she is about to kill a helpless child and stops herself. Only for another darker shadow to appear over her. That is Lute, who proceeds to rip her eye and wings off.

The meaning is obvious: Lute is the violent part of herself that Vaggie wants to escape. And yet, she will need to face Lute again and again. Even more importantly, she will need to aknowledge their shared upbringing and trauma, which is at the root of their issues.

Lucifer and Sera

Sera mentions Lucifer twice in Welcome to Heaven.

The first time, in relation to Charlie:

Sera: Well, you failed to control the demons' unrest, and now Lucifer is involved, setting up an audience for his misguided daughter.

The second time, in relation to Emily:

Sera: Please.... if you start to question... you could end up like Lucifer: Fallen.

I think the implication is that Sera and Lucifer used to be close (probably sibling-like), but Lucifer's fall changed things.

Sera right now seems to see different sides of Lucifer in Charlie and Emily:

In her first mention of Lucifer, Sera rolls her eyes and says Charlie is misguided. Except that she doesn't really know Charlie by this point. So, she is clearly seeing her as an extension of Lucifer. Specifically, she sees Charlie's attempt to change the system as similar to Lucifer's past ambitions: dangerous.

In her second mention of Lucifer, Sera warns Emily not to end up like him. She is clearly scared for the young Seraphim. Except that Emily is an angel version of Charlie, who is a younger version of Lucifer. In other words, Sera probably sees Emily as the embodyment of everything she loves about Lucifer. So, she wants to avoid history from repeating.

In other words, Sera projects on the two girls what she dislikes (Charlie) and what she misses (Emily) of Lucifer. Except that she can't have one without the other. More importantly, Sera and Lucifer will have to eventually meet to solve their past.

As a matter of fact it is possible Sera and Lucifer share the same authority figures: the Elders of Heaven. These parental figures probably traumatized them both on some level. So, we may have a scapegoat/golden child dynamic similar to the one Vaggie and Lute have:

Lucifer and Vaggie refuse their authority figures' teachings and end up in Hell as a consequence.

Sera and Lute accept these teachings and reach a position of authority. Sera is the High Seraphim of Heaven, while Lute is Adam's liutenant.

Sera and Lute are the ones who physically banish Lucifer and Vaggie and the ones who get in the way of the fallen angels (Sera politically and Lute physically).

Given this set-up and these similarities with Vaggie and Lute, it would be interesting to see how a future interaction between Lucifer and Sera will go. Sera might have the potential to challenge Lucifer when it comes to his past, his role as a parent and who he wants to be in the future.

Charlie and Emily

Emily is who Charlie would be if she were born in Heaven instead of Hell. She shares the Princess of Hell's kindness, but also her naivety and her innocent condescension:

Emily: Gosh, I'm so pleased to show some outsiders around After you see our realm, you'll never wanna go back down St. Peter and Emily: 'Cause every single day in Heaven is a happy day Welcome to Heaven

You'll be complete! It'll be so neat! Our service can't be beat! You'll be on easy street! (Yes!) Life will be sweet at the Happy Hotel~!

These traits are actually stronger in Emily, as Heaven presents itself as peaceful and perfect.

In Welcome to Heaven, both Charlie and Emily have their vision of the world crushed:

Emily: What are you saying? Let me get this straight You go down there and kill those poor souls?

Adam: Don't you act all high and mighty Did you ever think your little girlfriend might be a liar?

However, Charlie is given the chance to work on her internal flaws, while Emily is forced to push everything under the rug:

Sera: They were uprising, Emily! It is my position as the head Seraphim to protect our people at all costs. And it's your position to keep them happy and joyful. Emily: How can I bring joy when I now know we are bringing misery to thousands of innocent people? Sera: Heaven needs us, Emily. Everyone looks to us… and we can't doubt ourselves or worry about the fates of demons when we have our own souls to protect.

So, it would be interesting to see what kind of bond Charlie develops with this other self and how they can help each other grow.

Obviously, these are all just theories, but it would be cool to have all these angel characters explored more in later seasons!

[txttletale]

Because I'm curious now, what are your favorite TTRPGs? One of my personal favorites is the Kids On Bikes system and its variants for their simplicity and ease of access for new players.

so first of all--kids on bikes is very cool. it’s a nice rules-light game with a pick-up-and-play vibe. haven’t ever run it myself but i feel comfortable seconding your recommendation. anyway here’s some of my FAVOURITE TTRPGS.

Blades in the Dark is probably my enduring all-time favourite game. it’s a little flawed in places but its core loop is pure fucking elegance at play. flashbacks (you can spend stress, a metacurrency, to have done something in the past) and resistance (you can also spend stress to evade something bad that happens to you) are two of my favourite mechanics in any TTRPG ever. every player character gets to be a competent badass while also facing real, tangible danger with every moment. not to mention an incredibly well-fleshed out and evocative setting in the gaslamp fantasy nightmare city of doskvol.

Eidolon: Become Your Best Self is a game that dares to ask questions like, ‘what if jojo’s bizarre adventure was good’ and ‘what if persona, also, was good’. characters manifest the power of their souls as weird freaks with incredible powers. the ‘reveal your master plan’ mechanic works much like BiTD flashback mechanic and a smart combat system where enemies get stronger as you fight them really makes this the perfect vehicle for creative character-driven superpower-based combat. if you subscribe to the developers’ patreon you can also get access to the draft of the second edition, which does some really cool fucking things like replacing dice rolls with a tarot draw.

Lancer is the game for people who like grid-based tactical combat. it has incredible tactical depth, well-thought out mechanics that interlace perfectly--and best of all, you get to design and customize your own mech from a truly dizzying array of options to find all sorts of fucking insane synergies between abilities like ‘teleport whenever you attack somebody’ or ‘do more damage the more you overheat’. it also has a very comprehensive suite of GM tools that make it a breeze, and even fun, to create and run a balanced encounter with clearly defined and narrativly interesting goals for both sides. i’m not too into the setting for reasons i’ve talked about elsewhere, but fortunately as long as you can accomodate ‘mech combat’ into your setting, none of the worldbuilding is load-bearing to the game’s core appeal.

Microscope is totally different from a lot of TTRPGs in that it’s noit about playing characters, but about creating a world. it’s a beautiful collaborative storytelling tool with deceptively simple tools that can easily add up into your table creating a world that’s way more intricate and eclectic and fascinating than anything one of you could have come up with on your own. good for creating TTRPG settings but also good just as something to play for its own sake!!

Dream Askew would probably round out my top five, but i’ve just posted about that one here--so instead i’ll give this slot to Nobilis 3e, a game that might not be one of my favourite games to actually play, but is genuinely fascinating to read and sit with, a fucking masterful work of both design and literature, something that so distinctly creates a world and a tone that it’s instantly magnetic. not for everyone, but worth checking out.

[pocarinapyon]

🌶️🌶️ Jealousy-Jealousy: A New Banner version A2 (Albedo, Childe, Venti, Zhongli)

A new character banner is just around the corner and the excited you couldn't help but rave about how cool they are. Naturally, you pre-farmed materials and even spent moolah for a five-star weapon, claiming they deserve only the best of best (Meaning: four star weapons and artifacts are not allowed!! And let's not get started on the artifact stats! 😡).

Inside the world of Genshin, your bond ten boys couldn't help but feel jealous. The flames of jealousy fueled further when you used them to grind for the new character's items. How sickening was it to think that they have become stepping stones of your new favourite character?

The boys decided. When they materialize in your world, they will make sure to mark you and to indulge in their sinful fantasies of you. You are theirs and only theirs, after all.

But one night, to their surprise, their competitors were summoned along with them. How will the boys act? Will they fight with each other until one of them gets to have you all for themselves? Or will they work together in pleasing and glorifying your body?

Just like how you teamed them up in game.

Contents include [a brief scene introduction], and [the actual chilis].

Starring : Albedo, Childe, Venti, Zhongli (GangB.)

Tags / Warnings : 🌶️🌶️ [Chilis] Seggs; Scattered cuss words; The Archons calling each other by their Archon name; the boys being chatty in the first part; Implied rape; Petnames (if it bothers you); Somnophilia; Childe...respecting you???; Albedo making a "souvenir" 😏; Creampie; The boys being possessive; I might have given Zhongli a non-canon ability; Zhongli being a gentleman on the streets but a freak under the sheets; Albedo holding back 👀...for an experiment!; Anal (don't worry, you're vacated 👍🏼); Squirting; etc.; 👑/🖥️ [SAGAU/(Reverse) Isekai]; Based on the SAGAU/Reverse Isekai concept linked below but with chilis

Again, this post was done on mobile and I don't have anyone to beta this so if there are major minor mistakes, please forgive me. 😭

Future Plan : Version B1 Bennett??, Diluc Ragnvindr, Kaedehara Kazuha, Kaeya Alberich (Separate) - but I will post something else before B1: either a new one (ALHAITHAM, COME HOME BABY!!!) or from my backlog (Reimagined and rewritten. The ones drafted before I was separated with my PC... Yes, you read that right. I was separated with my precious PC 🥲)

Links : Pinned Post, JJ version A1 (Albedo / Childe / Venti / Zhongli) Separate, JJ Request (Venti), SAGAU/Reverse Isekai concept, A Good Experiment (Albedo, Childe, Diluc, Kaeya) Separate

Target audience is female (bodied) reader.

To whoever is reading, please enjoy.

-------------------------

Surrounding your bed, wordlessly judging each other, were the characters selected on your Party Setup screen. Albedo, Childe, Venti, and Zhongli were supposed to farm more items but the drowsy you were so exhausted that you fell asleep after selecting your line-up. The moment you stepped into dreamland was when the Genshin men materialized in your room, each hoping to have an intimate alone time with you but was gravely disappointed to learn three others came with them.

The clock continuously counted each passing second, its ticking the only sound echoing in the room. With a strum on his lyre, the first to break the deafening silence was Venti.

"Ehe~ I wonder what's everyone waiting for?" the bard asked innocently, yet they all knew what he exactly meant.

"Tch! For [your name]'s sake, I am not going to do the deed in front of other people," Childe quickly retorted.

"Oh?" Zhongli exclaimed in amusement. "Apologies. I assumed you to be the first to take advantage of this situation, Childe. Knowing you, I presumed you would wish us to watch you conquer [your name]."

Flabbergasted, Childe's mouth gaped like a fish. It was true that he was someone known to conquer the battlefield, winning victories even against the largest and strongest of preys. But this - this "battle" was you. And as someone who was taught some manners, Childe - Ajax - could not bring himself to just carelessly strip your vulnerable form while other vicious predators watched.

"Of course, it is something I will not allow," the Geo Archon added.

"Let me guess, Mister Zhongli wants to bury himself inside [your name] as well, doesn't he?" Childe interrogated, glaring at the gentleman whose arms were crossed together.

"I do not simply wish to bury myself. I will defile [your name]."

Even before the Harbinger could respond back, the Anemo Archon blurted.

"Eeh?! That's very kinky of you, Morax! You mean you want your cum oozing out of [your name]? Or you want to cover her body with it? Or you just want to stretch her out with your biiiig dick?" To this, the Geo Archon responded with a low chuckle.

"Heh! Mister Zhongli, I didn't expect you to be this vulgar! In fact, I thought you'd be the first to give [your name] some respect. It seems I was fooled. But hey, it's just like that time in Liyue, yeah?" Childe growled. "Not today, Morax. Did you seriously think I would just let you toy my wife?"

"Not without us, right??" Venti chortled, earning him an angry glance from the Snezhnayan man.

"Haha... Even if you wished to, I believe you are not capable to stop me."

Chaos was about to transpire as the Geo Archon and the Eleventh Fatui Harbinger shot daggers at one another, both waiting and ready to pounce, their flames fueled by the playful Anemo Archon's remarks. However, the quiet Chief Alchemist knew better. He knew that if you started to wake up, they will disappear and this evening will be a wasted opportunity. Of course, none of them wanted that.

"Ahem. Everyone, I have a proposal to make," Albedo spoke, catching the attention of the group. "It may sound absurd but I think we should learn how to share. We need to work together if we want to take advantage of this moment."

Share. Work together. Big words. Would it really be possible for these possessive men to actually share? To work together? But no matter how much they resented it, it was the only feasible thing to do. After all, their common goal was to make the most out of their capability to manifest in your world. And with Albedo's agreeable logical idea, using their unique abilities, everyone decided to cooperate.

...

It was a very uncompromising position for you as three men, all with the desire to leave no inch of you untouched, feasted on your unconscious form. You had no choice for you were their sleeping beauty and they could toy you as they pleased.

"Ehe~! Albedo was right! I didn't know you were sensitive here, Windblume?" Venti remarked as he nibbled on the flesh of your side, making you softly gasp in pleasure.

"Hey, Mister Albedo, aren't you going to join us?" Childe asked, squeezing both your erected nipples. "You three did a good job, you know? See, I can do basically whatever I want without waking [your name] up!" he enthusiastically said, roughly kneading your two lumps of flesh with his broad hands. "You're really missing out."

"Indeed," Zhongli concurred, loosening your pussy with three digits. "If you fear [your name] will awaken from sleep then worry not. Barbatos may not look like it but rest assured he has induced our beloved in deep slumber with his lullaby."

"Ehehe! Morax actually praised me! But giving our muse a pleasant dream is an important recipe too. Plus, you did so much with your potions. Now come and join us!"

Venti leaned his cheeks on your tummy and skillfully rubbed your clit. The double whammy on your womanhood made you moan louder, to which Childe pouted. Still giving your breasts attention, Childe invaded your parted mouth with his tongue and muffled your erotic voice with a sloppy kiss.

"Thank you all for your offer but please don't mind me," Albedo, still clothed, politely declined as he smiled contentedly at the profane scene before him.

After capturing the image in his mind, Albedo returned to his clipboard and engraved the erotic memory in art. Meanwhile, the other three men returned to their own businesses and continued to abuse your defenseless body.

Zhongli retracted his hands from you then positioned himself in front of your entrance. The Liyue god spread your slick with the tip of his cock while pumping his shaft, lubricating his big erection in the process. To this, Venti got up, gave Zhongli enough room, and continued to play your sensitive nub. Meanwhile, Childe peeked at the pornographic scene and began to choke his own cock with his hands. Now feeling your cunt weep in loneliness, Zhongli smirked and pushed his whole length inside of you in one push, making you arch your body and gasp lewdly in response. Venti mused at your angelic voice while Childe squeezed his own manhood harder.

Childe pumped his shaft faster, turning himself on by watching the two Archons molest your body. The Geo Archon rocked his hips to and fro, sensually massaging the walls of your tight cunt. Meanwhile, the Anemo Archon excitedly puffed your mouth with his cock, stifling whatever lewd sound came from your lips. Sounds of clapping flesh, Zhongli's low growl, Venti's melodious moan, and Childe's choked groans were the only music echoing your room. The three men pleasured themselves with your body until all of them released at once: Zhongli's filling your pussy, Venti's serving as your swig, and Childe's staining your tummy.

Cooperating with each other, they all switched places. Childe scooped the cum littered on your body before feeding it to your quivering lips. He then began to give life to his flaccid manhood by giving it a massage. Meanwhile, Venti gave your pussy a quick lick before rubbing his energetic cock on your slit to coat it with love juice. Zhongli, on the other hand, sat back to watch.

The Anemo Archon squeezed your plush thighs before slowly entering your wet cunt. Venti relished the way how your gummy walls felt and took his precious time bottoming out. He buried himself deep, grinding and rocking his pelvis against yours to explore your warmth. On the other hand, Childe spitted on his erection to serve as lubricant. He pumped his shaft while prodding the tip of his cock on your lips. He parted your mouth so he could feed you his whole length in a nice deep throat.

Venti's and Childe's rhythm started differently, wherein Childe's was abusive while Venti's was leisurely. It didn't take long before they both got lost in pleasure, now corrupting your holes wildly. Zhongli ogled the wanton love-making before him and watched how Venti and Childe came together deep inside of you accompanied by the harmonious sound of an excited squeal and a low grunt.

After coming down from their highs, the three men swapped places again, this time with a special request from Childe.

"Mister Zhongli, why don't you take the rear for me?"

The three men adjusted your positions wherein Zhongli penetrated your behind, Childe entered your womanhood, and Venti made use of your mouth. Zhongli did slow, shallow thrusts to let Childe enjoy brutalizing your tighter than ever wet cunt. Meanwhile, Venti simply let his cock sit in your mouth. The two Archons did not move and let Childe debauched you roughly, their resting cocks stimulated by your rocking body.

Having Zhongli in your ass, your pussy hot tighter that it became hard to move inside - a challenge Childe made for himself. The Harbinger knew you liked it rough so he eagerly pistoned his cock in fast deep thrusts. The wet walls squeezing him clenched and he knew you were going to cum. He kept pounding and pounding until he shook in overstimulation and unintentionally released all his seeds.

Childe heaved as he filled you to the brim. With a plop, he unsheathed himself from you to let the cream flow out of your abused pussy. It was cue for the two Archons to continue stimulating themselves. Venti placed the head of his manhood inside your mouth, your teeth grazing the neck of his penis, and massaged his shaft. Meanwhile, Zhongli fucked your rear in slow deep thrusts. In their own pace, the Archons reached their highs and soon came inside your holes.

The three men ogled your form: your holes leaking a mix of love juice; your chest rising up and down in taking deep breaths; your lips quivering as drool dripped its corner. Thoughts of how they defiled you played in their minds. Yet a common question plagued them.

Were you able to cum?

"Thank you all for your cooperation. May I have the honour?" Albedo spoke gently.

The men gave way so the Chief Alchemist could have his chance. Albedo observed the bastardized state you were in.

Damn did you look hot.

"I'm here, my princess," Albedo whispered in your ear as he freed his cock from its moist restraints.

Albedo pecked your lips and tucked the strands of hair away from sticking on your forehead. He caressed your hips, slid his hands down your thighs then pressed your clit, making you gasp in pleasure. A good reaction. His lips smugly curled upward before he sheathed himself fully inside your cunt.

The three men had their erections from watching Albedo pump your pussy in a mating press - each of his thrusts making a lewd squelch. Stray erotic moans often escaped your lips, further arousing the watchers and luring them deeper into depravity. Albedo kept his pace calculated, pistoning with the right combination of depth, rhythm, and speed.

Your breathing became erratic as your body begged Albedo to fuck you more. But it wasn't enough. Albedo kept teasing you - pretending to give you orgasm only to stop - until your pussy tried to suck him deeper.

The three men surrounded you and Albedo, pumping their cocks in desperation. Moans and grunts filled the room orchestrated by Albedo's rough pistoning. Climax was fast approaching and all of you were on edge. It didn't take long before you came and squirted all over Albedo. The scene made the watchers spill their seeds all over, each with their own grunts and growls. Albedo unsheathed himself and, with a choked moan, he joined in spurting his cum.

Basking in the joy of orgasm, everyone panted in satisfaction. Albedo, in exhaustion, leaned his forehead on yours before victoriously declaring.

"Hah... My love, only I can make you feel this good."

-------------------------

Hello, everyone and thank you for reading Jealousy-Jealousy version A2! I hope you all enjoyed it.

It's my first time writing a smut fic with multiple partners at once. And, uhn.... It's spicier in my mind, though. 😅

Also, my favouritism is showing, lol!

Anyway.

To whoever read this, thank you for your time. Here, have some raw meat. 🥩

Please feel free to cook it however you want.

Links : Pinned Post, JJ version A1 (Albedo / Childe / Venti / Zhongli) Separate, JJ Request (Venti), SAGAU/Reverse Isekai concept, A Good Experiment (Albedo, Childe, Diluc, Kaeya) Separate

Venti = Battery and Crowd Control cutie; Childe = Main DPS and massacrer of all (except Hydro Mimics, that's Albedo's job lol); Zhongli = Shielder and prophet of Osmanthus Wine; Albedo = Off-field sub-DPS and pretty boy who bitch slaps enemies with his Rite of Progeniture;

Geo Resonance FTW!!

[yueliie]

hii y'all! so it has come to my attention...the existing of flufftober and I thought it's sounds pretty cool and challenging but I thought it's would be nice to challenge my hopeless romantic side to good use and reuse my old quote prompts that I made up, so here are the rules!

⭑.ᐟ 𝗥𝗨𝗟𝗘𝗦

1. NO requesting two prompts for yourself, only pick one prompt for one character!

As much as I love hearing ideas from y'all, I feel it's a bit cheating for other fans who also want to join in.

2. This is not a selfship event I'm saving these for my milestone events BUT the drabble will be dedicated to you, the requester.

Okie, hear me out, it will be obviously x reader still but the reader's personality & gender will be based off yours. There is only so much I can do with the mc's personality and I don't know my audience well enough to make predictions...so tell me about yourself from pronouns, interests, strengths, weaknesses to your perception of the character! you can even put nicknames they use for you, some ideas if you want and so on, I need that sugar man.

3. PLEASE be respectful, I do not want people to fight over each other.

listen...this is an event I put together for everyone to enjoy themselves and I always wants to doing a writing challenge from start to finish so please be kind for my sake?? TwT

4. MY moots will get a VIP treatment tho cuz I'm affectionately biased towards them-

I LOVE MY LITTLE CUTESY MOOTS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND but this doesn't mean follower and non-follower can't join in! if moots' chosen prompt is taken by someone else and it's NOT your beloved, I will give them permission to have an extra slot just for their favourite. Remember this event is a writing challenge for me, might be late on the delivery if life kicked me in the butt but I'll definitely want to finish it though!

5. WIND BREAKER ONLY!! I'm reading the manga and I think I have too much energy for this series that it's overwhelming my other love (KnY), sorry!

I'M UNHINGED, EMOTIONAL UNSTABLE AND A LIL' STUPID RN BUT yeahhhh...they are holding me hostage, i can't leave until I'm drained-

DONE READING THE RULES? PLEASE PROCEED TO THE NEXT STEP... please be aware this event is a mix of holidays such as valentine's day, christmas (in Japan, it's all about LOVEEE), tanabata festival, white day and halloween. So please, you have my permission to go FERAL in my ask box :D send me an ask for your chosen quote prompt, your details, ideas and character!...MY ASK BOX IS OPEN FOR THIS EVENT UNTIL OCTOBER OR THIS IS FILLED UP (MOOTS DOESN'T COUNT, THEY ARE VIPS) !! PLEASE REBLOG AND SPREAD THE WORD!!

1. "Both you and your chocolate should belong to me only"

2. "...why a santa's helper outfit?"

3. "...make these only for me, everyday please?"

4. "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

5. "Before you go...can i kiss you?"

6. "I'll hold your hand until you fall asleep..."

7. "Call me a monster but I'm just a monster who wants your heart"

8. "I want to be the only one who can see your crying face..."

9. "Why are you so embarrassed about? I just want to remind you how much I love you"

10. "Don't move around so much when you're sick!"

11. "Do you want a hug?"

12. "Can we hold hands?"

13. "Hearing your heartbeat...a melody I will never forget"

14. "With you, I find a sense of belonging as if I'm always home"

15. "I don't know when to let you go"

16. "I don't care what we do, I just like spending time with you"

17. "I hate being so far away from you"

18. "I only accept gifts from the person I like"

19. "Thank you for loving me/being you"

20. "I can't stop thinking about you"

21. "It's your favourite snack, right?"

22. "I want to be with you forever"

23. "You really want to know how I feel?"

24. "You're way sweeter than any chocolate"

25. "...good morning kiss?"

26. "I love everything you make though"

27. "I lose my way, your hand guide me back to the right path"

28. "Holding your hand, you make me forget all my worries and the world around us"

29. "I want your gift to be the first one I get"

30. "How long are you going to stare when your lover is right in front of you?"

31. "Keep me warm tonight"

Tagging lovely people to boost this event (no pressure...!) : @kaq3yma , @littleplantfreak , @megutime , @iid-smile , @meidiary , @kajibunny , @the-original-skipps , @kaiser1ns , @sanemistar , @stunie !!

> MASTERLIST <

[hollysoda]

Okay so I know that totk turned one year old a couple of days ago but I was away for the weekend and didn’t get a chance to post something about it. Now I’m home again, I think I wanna just put some thoughts down

Firstly, I still love totk. It was a really fun game and had just as much fun playing through it complete blind as I did playing botw with only a loose knowledge of the game. In fact, I enjoyed it more than botw. Maybe it was because I knew more about Zelda than what I did back in September 2022 when I first played botw, or maybe it was because I could see the improvements they made when it came to dungeons and overall exploration. For at least six months totk was my favourite zelda game. Now, a year on, it isn’t.

I think on reflection totk is a very flawed game. While it is technically genius, story-wise it’s incredibly weak, possibly the weakest in the entire franchise. Here are a few points worth mentioning:

Why bother bringing back Ganondorf if he isn’t going to have any real motive? Is there a reason why he’s fighting with Rauru and seeking his own secret stone, or is he just doing it for funsies? Part of the reason why Wind Waker Ganondorf is so good is because he has a strong and clear motive. Without any motive, totk Ganondorf just feels like an enemy rather than a main antagonist

The main thing that drives forward a story is a theme to take away from it. Breath of the Wild’s theme was exploration and lost memories, Skyward Sword’s theme was loyalty and/or devotion, but it’s hard to tell what totk’s theme is. Sacrifice could be the outstanding one, seeing as both Zelda and Rauru make crucial sacrifices for the sake of Hyrule, but where else is it seen in the story? Totk just tries too many things, and having a clear theme would just help to solidify things

For a game that was supposed to solve the mystery of who the Zonai were it sure did a poor job at doing so. I absolutely adore the Zonai and in my opinion Rauru and Mineru’s designs as some of the coolest in the entire franchise but my god. Their lore is so underdeveloped it hurts. We know the bare minimum about their civilisation and culture. We still don’t know why they died off, why they built the labyrinths (and by extension who the Lord of dragons/owls/boars are), why they have secret stones in the first place, why is the Temple of Time in the sky when it was originally on the ground and most importantly why is draconification a forbidden act. If you’re gonna imply that the three dragons introduced in botw were once people then tell us!! Totk deserved a dlc that could explain all of this and not leave us in the unknown

Saying that the Sheikah technology just “disappeared” is an absolutely awful way of saying “uh yeah we never thought about that”. That’s some god awful world-building and planning on the developers behalf. Even if they just said that after the Calamity it lost its magic and then parts of it were repurposed for new technology, like the Skyview towers, it would be so much more believable. The Divine Beasts should have at least been in the game somewhere, perhaps in the depths. The lack of Sheikah tech makes the game feel so disjointed from botw, and makes totk feel as though it’s only a sequel because it has the same characters in it

The ending of the game just doesn’t sit right with me. Why bother having Mineru beg Zelda not to swallow her secret stone if in the end she would be able to turn back into a human. I understand the developers want a happy ending but at least let there be consequences. Let Zelda’s memory be a bit hazy or give her dragon features like many artists have done and let Link permanently be an amputee

Also the Ancient Hero angers me. I’ve got no problems with him not being a hylian because honestly it makes it wayy more interesting knowing that not every hero was hylian, but just explain why. If he’s some sort of Zonai, why doesn’t he look like Rauru and Mineru? Is he some sort of hybrid or a different breed of Zonai? And why does the tapestry depict him as a hylian if he’s not? Seems like an oversight more than anything

I think I should stop there because this post is getting long but uh TL;DR totk could have been a phenomenal game if they spent more time planning out the storyline and fleshing out lore. I get it, the game was originally botw dlc, but after so many delays we at least deserved a better story.

I do still love this game though Tears of the Dragon goes HARD

[nanatsuyu]

I feel like it’s not talked about enough that early in the books Kevin is the only person we see Andrew initiating any type of physical closeness/touch with at all … also thinking about how they’re described physically with each other in Son of Nefes like. so much tenderness (@ your tags about how Andrew carries himself around Kevin and Neil)

I definitely think their closeness in the beginning gets overshadowed a lot by how close Andrew and Neil get later in the series. And that's not a diss on andreil! I think it's important to Andrew's character to see that while Neil played a very large part in letting Andrew explore his boundaries and grow comfortable with physical affections, there were others that helped in that healing along the way too.

One of my favourite scenes is the one where Kevin takes his glove off for Andrew to inspect his hand for any damages. It's written in such a way that implies they weren't paying any attention to the rest of the world around them. Matt had been carded, the play was over and a fight had broken out, and during that sliver of time, either Andrew had hailed Kevin over or he'd gone of his own volition to the goal for Andrew to give his injuries a one over. Kevin knew he was going to get swapped out, and they both turned somewhat surprised when Dan called out to Kevin, as if the game being in play was an afterthought. (Which, considering it's Kevin, seems somewhat ooc since he always knows what's going on on court).

And, although we don't have the exact words regarding Andrew's deal with Kevin, it was implied in the most basic terms that Andrew would protect Kevin from Riko. (There's obviously nuance here given Andrew's bodyguard tendencies when Kevin gets into later spats with people, but for the sake of how vague most of Andrew's deals are spoken aloud, I think it's safe to assume he promised to protect Kevin from his big bad not sibling in the same way he promised to have Neil's back). All that just to say... It wasn't really in their deal for Andrew to protect or look after Kevin outside of his affiliations with the Ravens. And yet, even after threatening to break his own hand before all this, because Kevin annoyed the piss out of him so much, here he was, inspecting Kevin's hand and putting the game on hold to do so.

This injury has nothing to do with Riko or the Ravens. So, in terms of their deal, he didn't really need to dote on Kevin like that. And yet.

And yet.

And this is really only one instance of them being glued at the hip. Andrew does a lot of redirecting of Kevin's person in the same way we see him do later with Neil. Like you said as well, Kevin's the only one for some pages that we see Andrew physical with that isn't necessarily reactionary or defensive. I know Andrew was still on his meds at the time, but this line came across to me as him literally shoving Andrew down court who didn't seem to take much issue with the it:

He doesn't make much mention of it, but if I had to wager a guess, these moments of familiar contact are not a new thing upon Neil's arrival.

(Also it's been a hot minute since I skimmed through son nefes (the ec and I are on cherry picking terms most days) but I know Renee saw it too.)

Like it makes me insane to think about how their deal didn't have to incorporate all that closeness. It didn't require Andrew to become intertwined with the rest of Kevin's life and daily going on's. He could have agreed to keep him on a leash from getting dragged out of the fox den by the Ravens and called it a day, but we can see clear as day that Andrew treats his relationship with Kevin far more delicately than that. In terms of canon, the best friend (platonic soul bond or whatever title floats your fancy) behaviour jumped out of Andrew so fast, I'm shocked how anyone could overlook it.

And I haven't even touched on how Wymack views their relationship, or Kathy's show, or the role Andrew plays as Kevin's other half post Evermore, or the first genuine smiles are the ones they give each other, or the pseudo threat of the butter knife scene, or whatever they had going on here:

Like, there are certainly motions that can be considered varying levels of tender, but I do think it's important to remember that Andrew's gestures should not be measured with the same scale as say someone like Renee. We can obviously see in later chapters that Andrew can be incredibly gentle (ie the hip kiss that ruined my life), but I think it's a disservice to Andrew's character to understate how close he and Kevin are through the series, both physically and emotionally.

[skygemspeaks]

opla episode 6 is definitely my favourite so far. here are some thoughts:

the music in this is so good! i'm the kind of person who doesn't often notice the soundtrack unless it's a song i know well (like binks' sake or we are, both of which we've heard snippets of so far), but i did really like the funky beat we got in the luffy vs arlong fight

the character work in this was well done, specifically when it comes to luffy and sanji! one really good way to have emotional impact is to establish a certain aspect of a character's personality, and then subvert it to make a point. like we all know that luffy loves to eat, but then at the beginning of the episode when nami tells him to go to the baratie and he replies that he's not hungry right now? that's really cute. but later on in the episode, when sanji is preparing food for them, and luffy doesn't even notice it, because he needs to properly care for "wada itchy monkey" (ASKDLJASDJK) for zoro, that made my heart melt. he loves his crew SO much

and i really like that sanji was there to see it! it really gives more credence to his decision to leave his father and his whole life behind to sail off with a crew he's known for like two days. he sees luffy struggling with making the tough decisions, he hears luffy say that he would eat both arms and legs to save zoro's life, and he sees potential in him as a captain. he trusts luffy with his dream

also, the relationship between zeff and sanji was subtle but very sweet. sanji says "oregano is for savages" and you kinda laugh, but then you see in the flashback that it's a callback to the very first interaction he ever had with zeff, and it takes on new meaning. you hear them calling each other "shitty old man" and "little eggplant" and at the end of the episode when zeff finally calls sanji by name, it hits you like a punch in the heart. and sanji immediately picks up on that and calls zeff by name too! their love for each other is so obvious, and i really appreciate it.

it was really cool to see nami reading the story of noland to zoro! what a fun little thing, and again, i would love it if we ever got to see the payoff for this!

the live action really benefited from having the context of worldbuilding that's established later on in the series, namely what we learn about fishmen in the sabaody arc. i like that they included those scenes of arlong interacting with the humans, and it was especially cool to see the interplay between him and the fishman that works as the maitre d' for the baratie. it's playing on this whole feeling where when you're a person of colour who takes pride in your heritage, it can feel almost like a betrayal when you see another person from your culture just throwing it all away and adapting to the culture that they live in. there's nothing wrong with either of those choices, but for the person who takes pride in their culture, it feels almost like losing to the racists who want you to "just be normal" (ie assimilate). it's a very complicated and nuanced topic, and i like how they addressed it in the show.

garp's conversation with mihawk was another point of interest for me! i've been joking about it all this time, but i really do think that he's clinging to this idea that if he just manages to apprehend luffy before he reaches the grand line, before any OTHER marines take notice of him, he can still get through to luffy. maybe he can keep his grandson safe. because he knows that luffy already has the odds stacked against him, what with his father being the leader of the revolutionary army, and he doesn't want his grandson to die. then mihawk refuses to bring luffy in, and all garp can do is laugh in despair, and tear his office apart because it feels like everyone in the world is trying to stop him from keeping his grandson safe, and he's running out of TIME as luffy gets embroiled in more and more pirate bullshit and gets closer to the grand line, and he just needs to bring his grandson back. and then koby just pops that bubble by telling garp that luffy would rather die than take orders from anyone else. he'd rather die than be a marine. and garp can't deny it anymore, so he just gives up. and who knows what koby was thinking here. maybe he's still a bit naive. he loves his friend, and he thinks. what. maybe garp will just let luffy go? ignore him because he's not a threat? he's not like OTHER pirates after all. but garp has been a marine for 50 years, and he knows that's not how any of this works. he knows that he did everything he could to stop luffy from being a pirate, and maybe he's feeling a little bitter that luffy never listened to him, maybe he thinks it's what luffy deserves. if luffy wants to be a pirate, then garp will do his fucking damnedest to treat him like a fucking pirate. and later on, you can see koby's despair, because this is not what he wanted, not at all. but what did he want then? this is what i mean when i say i don't know how they're planning on resolving his character arc. because the way things are going now, it would seem to make the most sense for him to become disillusioned with the marines as he realizes they're not what he's been glorifying and idolizing all his life, right? so what happens? maybe it IS a set-up for that kind of story arc, the way it is in the manga. maybe this, plus later during marineford when he stands up to akainu is the setup for the long game. maybe koby's going to become a revolutionary in the endgame of the manga. i think he'd get along well with sabo.

in the aftermath of the arlong fight, when sanji is helping clean up the dining area and he has that conversation with zeff, it becomes obvious that all along, zeff has been trying to push sanji away. zeff demoted him to a waiter because he knows that sanji loves cooking, and zeff wanted him to LEAVE. zeff called his cooking shitty, said it wasn't good enough to serve to guests even though sanji is his sous chef, he was trained by zeff and you know zeff would never accept anything but the best. because zeff is proud of his restaurant, he really is, but he also doesn't want sanji to waste away his life in this little restaurant in the east blue. that's not the future zeff gave up his leg for. and it hurts, but he needs to push sanji out of the nest so that he can fly

the vow that zoro makes to luffy when he wakes up is really nice! i love that zoro seems to have finally accepted that these are his people, these are his family, and he's not trying to hide it anymore. that soft, indulgent little laugh he does when usopp is recounting the fight he totally had with the fishmen is that much sweeter after he's been so aloof and stoic all season. i like seeing him finally loosen up, and it feels so much more deserved now

[highlordofkrypton]

ACOTAR headcanons // (au) cassian

I feel like I need to put a disclaimer before my favs on here block me for being a cassian!girlie, BUT I'M NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS I SWEAR 😂😂😂 PLS LOVE ME ANYWAY I HAVE THE BRAINWORMS RN BEAR WITH ME

That said, I don't think I have much Cassian content to post aside from this (until Cassian week).

Anyway, this is in regards to my au!cassian, also known as Wildflowers!Cassian (my canon-divergent prequel fic), also ALSO known as Mathian (mathi!cassian -- shout out to @wingsdippedingold for the name I love it, I'm adopting it his full name is Cassian Mathian the first of his name, general of the night court, etc etc.).

The Tamlin x Cassian besties brainworms have taken a hold of me so, I've stopped fighting it.

ABOUT MATHI'S CASSIAN

uses 'bro' way too much.

imagines the mating bond to be something akin (but not as good) as having the perfect gym bro who spots you and supports you when you're trying to hit a PR

mental health adage: pain without gains is a no-no. it means that you should not be suffering pointlessly, and will encourage you to address ur problems so you can have MENTAL GAINS too.

values truth and justice, would fight his own people for doing the wrong thing; case in point, he was horrified at Rhys' misuse of his daemati abilities.

would never sleep with Mor because he knew Azriel liked her -- that's wrong bro. he would try to find a different way out, maybe 1v1 eris in a fallmart parking lot if it came down to it. i also feel like he's the type of character to make sure that someone's first time is really, really special. he would pull out all the stops to make his partner feel comfortable.

his favourite greeting @ tamlin is a headbutt or tackle. there is no reality where they don't end up wrestling, it's very embarassing to rhys and lucien as the local 'himbo' handlers.

i believe the proper characterization for cassian to be the himbo trifecta: kind, handsome and a lil bit dumb.

10/10 would save kittens from trees, also 10/10 would mistake a tasmanian devil for a cat that needs to be saved and gets scratched the hell out of him

vegetarian ally, he actually tried to start going vegan to support tamlin -- at least, when they're together -- but the unanimous consensus was that for the sake of prythian and its inhabitants, no one should suffer those bean/tofu farts (you might think this is a joke, but i will NOT expand on my tofu experience thanks) and he also thinks being vegetarian is beans only so like guys he's TRYING

it's very important to me that cassian is gray romantic or demi-romantic; i like to imagine that he feels very deeply, which is why he hides it with is silliness, and with his upbringing, it's not very easy to open up his world to anyone. idk, cassian sleeping around doesn't particularly speak to me. take this with a grain of salt, i haven't explored this side of him enough to be definitive.

rhys and azriel are his brothers, tamlin is his best friend in the whole world. rhys and tamlin killing each other's parents and the subsequent rift would have broken his heart, he would have sad puppied the rest of the series if I had any say in it.

i think if not for his bargain w/ rhys, he would have absolutely reached out for tamlin for help when Rhys disappeared (spoilers for my sequel mb???)

he is a super senshi at heart -- sailor mars, specifically, is his fav. he sees himself in her OK.

cassian is short, esp for a fae he's like 5'7"-5'10" at best and its great bc we love a short king

plays pranks on Tamlin the most bc Rhys is a smartass, Azriel is a knowitall, Mor and Lucien just don't believe him, he's scared of Amren and Tamlin always listens

i'm anti-bond in general, so i wouldn't mate him with anyone, but if the vibes are there, the vibes are there.

cassian is the first person outside Tamlin's family to help him do his hair

i think people underestimate the comedic value of cassian toting people around under his arms as a legit travel method. oh, someone isn't showing up? send cassian, he will fetch them for u

cassian did impersonate tamlin for a day in his court bc tamlin/cassian had a bet with everyone else that they AREN'T the same person and they are very, very, very different -- nobody noticed the switch, they just thought tamlin was having a very silly day. cassian even chatted up the local wildlife which... is very tamlin. the only things that did notice were the Green (flora magic) that were very 🙄🙄🙄 at cassian

is anti-tithe bc he doesn't know what it means; he suggested everyone donate a part of their earnings so that they can have a very big savings account to pay for things that affect the collectivity of the court, he is also taking NO NOTES on his brilliant idea nONE

tamlin will never say it, but cassian's birthday gifts are his fav (they r usually really ugly matching shirts with something really dumb on them)

I'll probably expand on this list if I have ideas, but I feel like this gives a decent framework to the type of character when ✨I✨ am referring to him. As a person, I do not live in the canon universe, and I have decided to make a personalized blorbo out of Cassian.

This is also the energy I bring my twitter memes 😂

[rrain-writes]

Rain's LU Febuwhump: Day 19

"Please don't.": Legend

Warnings: suicidal thoughts

Note: this fic has a character experiencing suicidal thoughts. If you, or someone you know ever feels like this, please talk to someone trusted in your life! if you don't feel comfortable doing that, there are plenty of helplines all over the world which can be contacted through their websites, calling, emailing or even in person. If there is something in this you feel like I should put as a warning, or any other concerns then please let me know.

Legend sat, legs dangling off the edge. A gaping abyss stretched out under him, stretching on and on before disappearing into the shadows.

He wondered if it would hurt. The wind rushing past him, struggling to fight against the gravity pulling him down into the earth’s hungry jaws. The view of the sky shrinking smaller, as he fell, turning from endless to a single prick of blue, as far away as the stars.

When he reached the bottom, would he feel it? Would he feel the bones in his body breaking, screaming under the impact, or would it be quick? 

Would he fall into the suffocating darkness, trying to claw his way out with nothing to hold onto, or would it be like greeting an old friend, with a smile and warm embrace?

Would he be scared?

Would he fall, the screams of the wind in his ears and regret it? Would he spend his last moment terrified, regretful and shamed?

Would the goddess even let him fall? Or would she step in with some divine intervention, whispering her honey soaked words of comfort and praise.

Your time is not yet, hero.

Would she save him, or let him fall,

down,

down,

down?

If the goddess hadn’t saved him before, why would she now? She had left him alone, left him to fall apart, left him to become the empty shell of a boy he’d once known.

The sun was beginning to set, sinking down and melting into gold, reflecting in the eyes of a lonely boy.

Legend didn’t to whether to laugh or cry.

What about the others? He wondered. Would they worry about him, when he didn’t return? Would they look for him? Or would they be glad to get rid of him? 

Why would they care about someone so cruel, so cold? Someone who insulted them and started fights for the sake of it? Someone who slowed them down, with his aching body, someone had caused more problems than solved them?

The stars started to glisten into existence, millions of miles away yet just out of reach.

What would happen, if Legend just leaned forward? All he had to do was fall.

Legend…

The voice sounded far away.

Legend…

He wasn’t the Hero of Legend. He was just Link.

Legend…

All he had to do was lean forward.

“Legend!” A hand grabbed his shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. A familiar face stared back at him, eyes wide with concern.

“What are you doing?” Warriors asked, unsubtly pulling him back from the edge.

Link didn’t reply, turning his face away.

Warriors knew, anyways.

“Legend, please.” He begged. “Don’t.”

Link shook his head. “I’m tired.” He said, voice small. It was like Warriors' sudden appearance had taken his voice, sapped his courage from his weary bones.

“I’ve lost too many good soldiers to the thoughts I know are running through your head.” The man replied, hand keeping a steady grip on his shoulder.

“I’m not a soldier.” He replied. He wasn’t. He wasn’t.

“You’re right.” Link couldn’t bare to look at Warriors, couldn’t bring himself to look in is eyes as the other man spoke. “You’re my brother, Legend. And…”

Link never meant to make someone cry. He didn’t think someone cared enough in the first place.

“I can’t loose you, Okay? None of us can.”

Link - no - Legend, sniffed, rubbing an arm across his eyes like he could hide the tears that were falling.

“I’m sorry.”

The next day, he didn’t remember crying into his brother’s shoulder, or his unwavering embrace as he pulled Link back to camp. He didn’t remember being given his favourite meal by the champion, or his descendant’s silent comfort. He didn’t remember the sailors cheerful stories, or the old man’s comforting look. He didn’t remember the rancher and the smithy sitting by his bedroll. He didn’t remember the first hero looking at him and understanding everything, everything, everything.

But he knew, that when time moved on, and they fought and lost and won and rested, he knew as sure as the sun rose and set, as sure as the moon’s steady gaze, that he’d be okay.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Ever since I saw this lovely little post floating around, I felt the need to compile one of my favourite suffer plotpoints when it comes to Taichi’s character: His tendency to “shrivel” when he cannot get the band together. Or: Taichi Yagami’s love language is “quality time” and he suffers the most when he (unintentionally or intentionally) isolates himself from the others - and yet, he also has a tendency to fight the need to be with the others for their sake, displaying a sense of selflessness, even if it bothers him.

Let’s break this down, shall we:

Episode 21 is the third time* we see Taichi struggle with his sense of “want” vs. “need” in regards to his “responsibilities” for the whole group, which is also a big indication towards his role as leader of the group later on. (*Prior to this, his arc of understanding the difference between courage and recklessness as well as him overcoming his fears/cowardice to save Sora have been more about his general development, even if these moments help to understand his sense of leadership better. Up to this point, he had a tendency to rush forward head first without much consideration and got called out for that continuously by several other characters - but he had also already burdened himself with the idea of “being the only one with a crest”, so he HAD to be the first to fight and protect everyone there).

He’s happy to be back home, finally back in the real world and at first, that means that there is no need to fight anymore. But on the other hand, he knows that something is off - the others are still “on the other side” and his sense of duty is bugging him greatly. Taichi Yagami, as much as he’d like to, cannot consciously be selfish if he knows others are suffering because of it - and when the stakes are that high. When he receives Koushirou’s cryptic message, he panics first, then is visibly overcome by helplessness - but also weakly tries to justify why staying in the real world could be a good thing after all. Both Koromon and Hikari can tell that he’s pulling himself together, but he cannot get the others out of his head (indicated by his immediate instinct telling him that Yamato may have called him back once the telephone rings). He HAS to go back to the Digital World, he HAS to help the others, he could never leave them on their own devices.

And he’s right with that - because the others, even if they kept looking for him for more than two months, fell apart one by one, with one part of the group already having given up on Taichi, whereas the other part still believed in finding him; Sora was the first who left, still hoping to find Taichi, not believing that he could already have died. Koushirou was next, trying to find Gennai in order to get answers about their whereabouts (and, in my opinion, also because he had no reason to stay in the group, as Taichi and Sora had been the people he had been most attached to up to this point). Jyou and Mimi followed, leaving Yamato and Takeru by themselves. And when Taichi gets back, the group reunites bit by bit - as indicated by both Jyou and Yamato, even if Taichi himself denies that it was really HIS doing. However, this is the moment Taichi gets called the group’s “leader” for the first time - and even if he struggles with that title at first, it’s something he will fall back to for the rest of the season, if not the entire series. Feeling that sense of responsibility (and pressure) as well as learning to deal with the consequences.

And even if 02 already indicates that the kids are slowly but steadily growing up, comfortably learning to do “their own things”, Taichi is ALWAYS portrayed as the one (besides Koushirou) ditching real world obligations more easily to join and help the 02 group. However, it’s Tri where it becomes most apparent that the leader struggles when he has nobody left to “lead” anymore (which is quite an exaggeration in this case, but if you want to interpret it this way, it makes sense why Taichi appeared to be as gloomy as he did). 

Let’s look at the order of priority here: Taichi’s football match is coming up and, obviously, he’s keen to invite his friends to watch him play. It seems to be that he intends to ask Sora first, which would make sense, since she used to be his football club companion - just to witness Yamato doing the exact same thing, asking Sora to come to his concert, which takes place on the same day. And thus - Taichi hesitates and backs off. At this point, it is implied that Sora and Yamato actually aren’t dating (anymore/for the time being), yet Taichi is still hesitant to get in between them. 02 showed us that there are no animosities between these three in ANY capacity, quite the contrary, Taichi had always been supportive of his friends’ relationship. Which would also explain WHY he may feel like he shouldn’t get in the way right now; while it is not outright stated, we may interpret it as him trying to take a step back to give them time for themselves. Whatever may have happened before, they might need the time to reconcile. Taichi isn’t always able to find the right words, may be a bit too blunt or doesn’t appear empathetic due to his rashness - however, he IS observant of his friends.

Which is also shown by the fact that he doesn’t try to push Koushirou into coming to his match either once he hears that it takes place on the same day as his parents’ anniversary. He does seem a bit detached and disappointed, but tries his best to not let it show, roughly explaining that he cannot ask Jyou because of his exams, that he did want to ask Takeru and Hikari, but doesn’t expect them to come either. Koushirou voices his empathy towards them having a hard time spending time together anymore - and Taichi deflects immediately. You can tell by the fact that he averts his gaze here, pretending not to care too much, casually claiming that he “figured you might be free”. However, the fact that he cannot even look Koushirou in the eyes anymore really just shows that he is actually hurt.

... Which is also deducted by Hikari once she tells him that she doesn’t have time either. Once again, Taichi downplays it, but his grumpy tone and the way he looks away again are way too easy to read. Hikari is a highly empathetic person and she ALWAYS knows when something is wrong with Taichi - even or ESPECIALLY when he denies it. 

She’s uncomfortable with the situation, the viewer can tell that she’s THIS close to cancel her own plans in order to put Taichi at ease - but he keeps deflecting.  As Taichi has always been particularly protective of Hikari and probably still has to deal with the aftermath of how his good intentions may almost resulted in her dying as a kid. Thus, it’s not surprising that he is not intending to put that pressure on her here. And it can be argued that the same applied to Koushirou earlier - one could interpret his deflection as him not wanting to dwell on it for Koushirou’s sake, as he probably did not want him to feel guilty.

Shortly before his match starts, the urge to have the others around takes over one last time - Taichi’s just about to ride his bike, but sends a quick text to Sora regardless, asking if she goes to Yamato’s concert or not. She responds within not even 5 seconds, asking why he asks. So he just generally tells her about the time and place of his match - and starts to type “Come if you have time...”, but then, after a short moment of contemplation, decides to delete that last line again.

It is very easy to take that scene as symbol for his inner struggle of not wanting to be alone - yet also not wanting to be a bother to the others either. The fact that his fight with Yamato about whether or not they should fight and cause harm (to lives and environment as well as emotionally) in all iterations is dealing with the exact same thing on a higher scale - and is really telling: Taichi’s entire arc will always be about making (uncomfortable) decisions, whether it’s about killing a friend or in regards to choosing to become a diplomat/ambassador in the end. Which is indicated by the last screenshot from above, showing him talking to Yamato about their career choices, how difficult it is to see everyone else thrive, yet having to accept that everyone is drifting apart.

He had to learn to become more considerate, empathetic and less impulsive throughout Adventure - but once he did, he also learned how difficult it is to find a good balance in order not to hurt others. That’s why Stageplay!Taichi also mourns the loss of his younger self, thinking that he has regressed, because he cannot just move forward anymore. Which is also why we see him isolating himself throughout Tri, not really confiding in anyone, keeping away from the likes of Sora and Koushirou (the ones he wanted to ask about coming to his football match first), suffering from his dysfunctional bond to Yamato - and only choosing to talk about his emotions to Agumon and Meiko, who ALSO struggles with her sense of self and the idea of having to kill her own partner. Stageplay!Agumon tells him that he’s only struggling so much because he has realized that there are way more things he’d like to protect, but that he shouldn’t deal with all of that by himself. That’s what everyone in the stageplay is trying to tell him as well; whether it’s Sora telling him to stop pretending to be "tough”, Hikari telling him that he does not have to "play” a role when he doesn’t want to be or Koushirou telling him that he’s pushing himself and that he thought he could be honest with him.

That’s why everything always feels less disrupted, less dysfunctional when Taichi is on good terms with himself - and the others as well, as he is (mostly figuratively, but also kinda literally) what “keeps the band together”. Just because he is who he is, with all the charisma and his own sense of courage.

Kizuna shows us that he hasn’t really learned that lesson yet - he does know what’s going on in the lives of Jyou, Mimi, Koushirou, Hikari and Daisuke, but has no idea about Takeru and Sora and only meets with Yamato to really (superficially) mope about how hard adulting is. That also explains why he’s seen thriving when he gets to ditch real life responsibilities to fight alongside the others again - even if he chooses to close himself off from them emotionally (as indicated by Hikari stating that their mom tells him to come home more often), he can still shine as a leader to fight for the greater good. He has come to the conclusion that fighting IS in fact necessary - that’s already one step forward in comparison to Tri. But due to the fact that he could not make up his mind yet, rather playing the role of a stagnating adult, he starts to lose the bond to Agumon (at this point in time at least). He may use the fighting as escapism, but doesn’t see his partner as an active part of his life (unlike every other Chosen Child besides Yamato and Sora, who suffer the same fate). Furthermore - the fact that he’s denying himself emotional support time and time again fundamentally contradicts who he really is. 

He IS a people person - obviously he’s not the most extroverted extrovert, as he has always had his more contemplative, quiet moments, overthinking to find the right solution if he cannot trust in his guts (and courage!). But as much as the role of the leader was externally assigned to him once, he genuinely has that sense of responsibility - and likes the company of the people close to him, which is why he cannot (fully) grow without them. Stepping up is hard, you have to know when the right time is to take the lead and when to cut yourself some slack - and we see Taichi being on a good way by the end of Kizuna, having decided on his final thesis and taking a step closer to becoming Digital World Ambassador.

The 02 movie already implies that he has stepped up in that regard, doing PR work alongside Koushirou, which means that he has at least embraced that “you can get the kid out of the Digital World, but never the Digital World out of the kid - who is also learning to become an adult alongside that attitude”.

Hence my hope for the future is that we will actually see him thrive again, without isolating himself (or getting isolated) from his friends, fully embracing who he is and what he wants.

[neelihara]

GREY IS MY FAVOURITE COLOUR

In the shadows, where darkness takes its hold,

A villain's tale is too often left untold.

They cloak themselves in cruelty's embrace,

but beneath it all, a different story finds its place.

Their past is a beautifully misunderstood, tangled mess,

A life of pain, a heart in distress.

Innocence lost, betrayed by trust,

Their journey through the darkness is a must.

Heroes may rise, noble and brave;

Their sacrifices are what the world's hearts crave.

But villains, oh, the depths they descend,

For love or revenge, they fiercely defend.

They may seem evil, cruel, and cold,

Yet, for one person's sake, their story unfolds.

A selfish streak, manipulative art,

Yet they'd tear worlds apart to protect one heart.

The world sees monsters born in the night,

But villains were shaped by a different fight.

Lost souls bearing scars, their innocence refused.

In places of darkness, lost and so confused,

In the depths of pain, where lost souls roam,

They carry their scars, denied a peaceful home.

Before we blame their actions so wild,

Look at the scars of a wounded inner child.

A hero's sacrifice, while noble and bold,

Would leave behind my heart an empty, broken mold.

But with a villain's love,

As white as a black dove.

If they're the one who holds my heart in their hand,

Through flames and ashes, they'll still stand.

Selfish I am, it's true, in this love that I want,

From birth's tender cry to death's final haunt.

Born this way and unapologetically so,

I'll remain until my last breath's soft flow.

In my villain's embrace, I find my grace,

A love transcending time and space.

In their dark embrace, I find my peace,

As the world's storms never cease.

For heroes may fall, and the world may decay,

But in my villain's arms, I choose to stay.

In the painting of the night,

Under the moon's grey light.

My villain claims my love,

His heart a hidden dove,

His lips brushed against mine,

Soft and gentle as a black dove's wing.

Beautifully bathed in the lunar light.

In a world of black and white,

Grey has always been my favourite light.

Oh, the subtle shades that sway,

In the dance of my villain's way.

-NEELIHARA

I wrote this poem after seeing a show where the villain I loved was killed. I was left with a sense of loss, and I wanted to mourn this character. The poem is an attempt to explore the idea that even villains may have more to their story. It's a means to express my love and empathy towards the villain. Thank you for reading, and I would love to know your thoughts on my poem.

[fatestayyuri]

Finished Ward Arc 3

TL;DR: taking an indefinite hiatus you can all unfollow me now

okay so like. first things first; probably gonna take a break for my own sanity’s sake! not the Biggest fan of his writing and the fact that from everything i’ve heard it only gets worse from here Does Not Assure me. anyway,

tattletale is so fucking funny Victoria just shows up and goes “fuck youuuuuu” and blames her for the [????] that amy did (i still have no idea what amy did) and lisa’s just like. “yeah. whatever. stop being a cop idiot.” then fucks off and leaves. the thing about wildbow’s writing is that while lisa comes off as like. kind of an annoying (endearing) loser who feels the need to overexplain to literally everyone i’m pretty sure wildbow intended her as his take on a Holmes-like all-knowing smart person? that’s honestly way funnier than any of his jokes tbh

the thing about arc 3 is that it’s not particularly objectionable enough to be a fun hateread and the annoying bits are subtle enough and caked in enough to the character moments that it just kind of blends into a big slog. Tristan and the other one’s dynamic reads INCREDIBLY gauche and all of the other stuff i’ve seen as part of the book club don’t lead me to read it kindly. i think that’s the problem actually by reading it all at once as a group we’ve been inundated with so much Wildbow moments so quickly that i kind of stopped reading it “with love” as it were; I kind of just see the artifice of a deeply copbrained liberal sockpuppeting characters and getting them to compliment his writing.

I think a large part of this is that i don’t actually particularly like superhero settings wait no actually i just remember that like my #2 favourite web serial is a superhero one i think i just hate wildbow’s writing i think

yeah it’s like, i don’t think wildbow should write fight scenes they kind of suck. Victoria “flying brick / cop Dallon doesn’t really have an interesting enough skillset to carry 2 million words of fights around. sorry. all of it tends to boil down to “punch really hard physically or emotionally” and i’m Bored. even the fight scenes as metaphor for emotional moments is Boring. it doesn’t do enough.

and like, i can’t actually take the [whatever untitled group] thing seriously since i got spoiled that Tristan is gay and the other one is straight so like. this just comes off as blaringly homophobic in the “what if the world was made out of pudding” sense. fuck off

yeah it’s really really hard to justify continuing to read this, when i am told that it only gets worse from here. like, genuinely wondering why i should spend that time when instead i could finish reading good serials, or the VNs on my backlog, or do literally anything else

sorry Certified Wardheads (all three of you) but like. indefinite hiatus for my mental health this shit sands away at my brain. i could probably say more but like, unlike the other stuff i’ve subjected myself to (Tsukihime) i’m not even promised something like, Good good in spite of all the forks. there’s other stories where you just have to do jury duty for 40 hours instead of eating forks for the sphagetti. i have a newfound appreciation for VNs that are just boring before they get good now

[hjemne]

Ilsa, I’ve seen you posting a lot of Trigun and well I’m intrigued by it, to say the least. But just for giggles, would you try to convince me why should I watch it? 😆🤚🏻

AHHHHH!

I didn't think Trigun was going to worm its way into my brain so much but here we are. There is so much to love about it and I adore so many of the characters for a billion different ways. The character type of someone who is made into a killing machine and then is slowly convinced to accept love and forgiveness is my favourite and is all over trigun. So many characters see themselves as monstrous but choose to do what they see as right for the sake of / with the help of their friends. There are moments of silliness and of tragedy, all with an incredibly interesting setting which slowly gets revealed.

Because of the recent release of Trigun Stampede, the community is really active rn (esp on Tumblr!) and it's really cool to see so many incredible fanarts, comics, fanfics and discussions being made. It's very fun to be part of a very active fandom, but also one that is 25 years old and has fanworks that are older than I am.

I really love it, and I would recommend it, but unfortunately I also have some caveats which I gotta mention.

What you gotta know before getting into Trigun is that there are 4 different canon versions and each one has its problems. I wish I could recommend X version as the definitive and best, but that just doesn't exist which is very annoying.

1) Trigun Maximum: the manga

Good: incredible nuances to characters like Wolfwood, Knives, Livio/Razlo. Vashwood subtext is off the charts and their dynamic is incredibly fascinating and central. This is the most detailed and complex story of Trigun and has lots of themes, characters and plot points that don't exist in other versions. Has elements of sexism and sexual violence, but (imo) to show how shitty the world is, rather than to revel in the misogyny. The tone is tragic, with equal mix of hope and pain.

Bad: the female characters of Meryl and Milly get massively sidelined in comparison to their depictions elsewhere. It's a very long manga and has (imo) pacing issues that limit the impact of emotional moments. The art style is beautiful, but notoriously difficult to follow, especially in the many long fight scenes (particularly bad in volume 5). There's lots of disagreement about 'correct' translations and it can be hard to tell which character is doing/saying/thinking what at points which can make it confusing and frustrating to read at times.

Overall: 7/10, I would recommend but maybe not as your first bit of exposure to Trugun

2) 1998 anime Trigun

Good: the silliest of Triguns with some great voice acting. The friendships between Vash, Milly, Meryl and Wolfwood are very sweet and engaging (although it would have been nice to see more of the four of them together). It's a fun overview of the Trigun story and has a very entertaining mix of comedy and serious emotional moments. Lots of hijinks and lots of fights. Milly and Meryl are core characters and get time to shine (it is impossible not to love Milly). This is personal preference but the animation style is kinda goofy in the way it changes styles to exaggerate characters' feelings which I love. The first 12 ISH episodes are very Saturday morning cartoon vibes without being too inane and childish.

Bad: because it only had the first couple of volumes of the manga to adapt from, the mid-season tone shift and later fights feel rushed, a little confusing and ultimately lead to a less satisfying conclusion than in trimax. The misogyny is noticeable, especially in the first couple of episodes, though is limited to a couple of comments in some episodes and doesn't (I think) make it unwatchable. The antagonists are rushed through and it's hard to work out who the 'main' villain is. Tone change is quite abrupt. Wolfwood is a less developed character with a less intense (back)story, Livio/Razlo doesn't exist at all etc

Overall: 7/10, this is what I'd recommend you start with. It has pacing issues and uncomfortable sexist comments, but I think they're outweighed by the strengths of the main casts relationships and the pure entertainment value of it. Not the most satisfying ending, but they were constrained so :/

3) Badlands Rumble (film)

Good: animation is SO crisp. Wolfwood is at maximum chest exposure and actually his character is pretty interesting here. Milly and Meryl are back, but in limited roles. Some interesting world building and Vash and Wolfwood go thru their divorce arc TM which is dumb and funny and angsty.

Bad: Wolfwood is far too pale. The first half an hour is made almost unwatchable by the decision to make sexism and sexual harrassement a way to pad out the runtime. Vash is such a creep it just makes for uncomfortable watching.

4/10 don't watch if you're not already invested, and honestly do yourself a favour by watching the opening scene, then skipping to the 30 min ish mark and watch knowing that Vash has some very tough dried meat in his front coat pocket.

4) Trigun Stampede anime

Good: really cool 3D animation and music. Has Wolfwood's manga backstory and some manga characters like Livio and Crimsonnail, but with very different characterisations. I really liked the episode looking at the childhood of two orphans and how their love for each other was manipulated against them both. Much bigger focus on Knives than the original and more elaboration of his motivations and plans. Zazie is SO much better here than in the original anime. No uncomfortable sexism yay!

Bad: I... don't like tristamp very much. The characters are watered down from their manga versions and Knives is just kinda evil because he was en evil child, rather than the much more nuanced version in trimax. Milly doesn't exist (yet) and they added in a new character Roberto whose role in the story is (or at least was to me) obvious if you know the basics of the hero's journey structure. Everyone has been twinkified and Wolfwood doesn't even have his tits out smh. Vash just comes across as having less agency and his motivations feel weak. I really just dont like a lot of the character decision here BUT to be fair, that's because I'm comparing them to the manga. But also, a main plot point is someone taking over his brother's body so that his sisters can get pregnant and it definitely still feels weird in context. The focus on the two brothers makes other dynamics a little weaker, and has led to a lot of incest-y fandom things which is ehh.

5.5/10 there are some things it does very well and it's very popular for a reason but I personally think the characterisations are disappointing. It's trying to strike a weird balance between being its own, new thing and also nostalgia for original elements, leading to some questionable pacing and plot choices. It doesn't even have Midvalley the Hornfreak.

I would love to be able to talk about Trigun with you and be passionate about the elements of it I love, but also I don't want to recommend it without giving you a fair picture of the parts I'm more critical about. I genuinely love the world building and characters, which are expressed best in the less accessible form of the manga but are also found in the animes. What I'd recommend is watching the original anime first, but also you might need to give it the benefit of the doubt for the first couple episodes which is where the dodgy 90s sexism is most obvious. I'd be super interested in hearing your thoughts and reactions to it if you did watch it, and also please bear in mind that my complaints about tristamp are personal and there are many who love that version so don't take my negativity as fact.

[rosies-den]

20 things I love about Ash Lynx. 🌅❤️‍🔥🦁🎂🎉

It's the 12th of August.

Ya know what that means?

It's a big huge loving Happy Birthday to our Ash!!!!!

For his birthday, I wanted to write something, so here's a very appreciative appreciation post for my favourite character of all time.

Here's just 20 reasons I love him with all my heart and soul.

1. His birth name. Aslan Jade Callenreese. His mum (or maybe just Yoshida being Yoshida) even made up "Aslan" to mean dawn/daybreak in hebrew when it actually means lion in turkish. However I like to interperet that, similar to a lion's mane, the sun shimmers with a golden light, and that's what his old lady meant when she named him Aslan to supposedly mean dawn.

2. His hair is also golden and reminds me of a lion's mane! And it's long. I love men with long hair!

3. His inner child. Ash has always been childish at heart and his most treasured memories are his childhood with Griffin. I love that as he opens up to Eiji, he starts showing his childish side more and more too.

4. His fear of pumpkins 🤭 mf is scared of a vegetable for christ sake!!! What a goofy thing to be afraid of. Cute though.

5. His jokes. Shit like telling Eiji to go watch Sesame Street, or being given an inkblot test at the hospital, the researcher asking what the inkblot sheet looks like, and he responds "Your wife". Countless examples of this cheeky fucker's one liners!

6. Speaking of which, that attitude he has. He's brutally honest, never backs down, says it like it is, and is unfiltered. He's smart whilst cutting the bullshit.

7. He knows how to lead, he sets goals clearly and he's strong and unwavering whilst not being outright cruel.

8. His fiery energy, especially being a Leo (more lion theming hehe) he's sucha a passionate person and that's a trait I both relate to and admire.

9. He remains loyal to his friends, through thick and thin, and even tries to understand people he has a bias against (Max for example, before they became like father and son.)

10. Despite being a gang leader, he does genuinely care for human life and doesn't like people dying for no good reason. Man's got morals.

11. His perseverance. Despite the cruel world trying to tear him apart time and time again in every possible way, he carried on with his investigation and his fight because he knew it was the right thing.

12. His intelligence! The dude can write advanced essays on politics and science and he does so for actual useful research reasons, not just to be a smartass.

13. He's the kind of person who drinks milk straight out of the jug. No, seriously. Look at this:

Absolute madlad.

14. His fashion sense! I love his denim jackets, his hoodies, his ripped jeans, even that plain boring ass white shirt he loves to wear so much!

15. He agrees with me that beans are fucking gross. I don't blame him at all for being so petty about natto!

16. He's canonically bisexual. (This isn't debatable, his two canon crushes are Eiji and a girl he liked when he was 14. If you insist he's gay or straight you can get your biphobic ass outta here.) It means a lot to me as a bi person to have that sort of representation, plus it explains a lot of things, like the aforementioned hoodies and denim jackets (big same!).

17. He's the kinda guy who sits to read a good book. I'm kinda envious of his habit to read things that aren't just from a screen, but I also really want him to read to me. Storytelling podcast with Ash Lynx anyone?

18. His relationship with Eiji. They bring out the best in each other. Eiji helps Ash open up and express the emotions, good and bad, within him, whilst Ash inspires and helps out Eiji to get stronger, more independent, and more confident in himself and his abilities. Easily my favourite relationship of all time. They compliment each other perfectly and are so lucky to have each other.

19. His kindness and protectiveness towards children. He of course had a lot of respect and fondness towards Skip, and inspired Max and Jessica to become better parents to little Michael. He knows how vulnerable kids can be, and wants to protect them from violence and abuse. I love that he refuses to let these vicious cycles of parental neglect and child abuse continue.

20. His ability to love beyond all else. Love is what motivated him to save his friends and allies, take revenge for his brother and others he lost, and protect people from atrocities. Despite everything he went through Ash was, is and always will be that loving playful, childish at heart boy who cares for his loved ones beyond all comprehension. His love for Eiji and his friends expands beyond the universe.

And that folks, is just 20 reasons why I love Ash from the deepest part of my spirit. He has inspired me in so many ways that I cannot even begin to go into right now, but just know thar he is an absolutely incredible character with such an important impact.

Thank you, Aslan. I love you so so much and I hope you have an amazing day in Japan with your husband. 💕💖💞💗